1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new practice batting or hitting device. More particularly, the invention relates to a baseball or softball practice hitting device that avoids the necessity of retrieving the ball after the practice swing.
Specifically, the invention provides a new type of baseball and softball practice hitting device that is easily adjusted for use in training young ball players and which avoids the necessity of retrieving the ball after the practice swing. The new practice hitting device broadly comprises in combination a planar base adapted to being placed on a relatively flat surface, such as the ground, a vertical pedistal fixedly attached to said base, said pedistal comprising an elongated vertical member having a ball fixedly attached to the terminal end of said member and the other end of the vertical member being fixedly attached to an elongated coil spring adapted to permitting the vertical pedistal to bend forward when the ball is hit, pivoting means fixedly attached to the bottom end of the coil spring and to the surface of the planar base, said pivoting means being adapted to permitting the vertical pedistal to be inclined to the sides, front or back and then locked in the desired position.
The invention further provides a preferred embodiment wherein the elongated vertical member comprises in combination a first vertically extending resilient member having the ball fixedly attached to one end thereof and having its other end fitting into the upper end of a second vertically extending tubular member in telescopic manner so as to permit said resilient member to be adjusted up and down, locking means to secure said first resilient member in a desired position, and the end of said second vertically extending tubular member being attached to the above mentioned elongated coil.
As a further special embodiment, the invention provides the above-described practice hitting devices possessing attachments to the planar base which permits the addition of weights so as to allow the practice device to be used on surfaces, such as indoor floors, etc.
2. Prior Art
In the game of baseball, one of the most difficult skills to master is hitting. First, a hitter must be able to coordinate the swing of a bat with the location of a ball so that good contact with the ball can be made while swinging the bat. Once this is mastered, the hitter must next learn to make good contact with the ball at the various positions at which it may cross home plate, from an inside pitch to an outside pitch, and from a high pitch to a low pitch, and various combinations of these two variables.
In development of these skills, the trainer or coach uses a baseball tee to support a ball at a selected height above a representation of the baseball home plate. The player then hits the ball out to the field, the ball is retrieved and placed on the tee for another swing. In this manner, the player can practice swinging and improve the coordination of his hands and eyes and develop his wrist and arm muscles.
Various practice batting tees have been developed in the past for this purpose. The practice tees developed to date, however, have had various limitations which have discouraged their overall acceptance in the baseball world.
In most cases, the ball is positioned on the tee and hit out into the field. This requires someone to retrieve the ball for the next hit. This has become very tiring work and discouraging to some players. In other cases, the tees have not been adjustable and different tees must be used for different hitting zones. In other cases the tees have been partially adjustable, but not able to cover all the hitting zones. In some cases, the tees have been adjustable, but the adjustment has required considerable time and manipulation to obtain a tee in the desired position. In other cases, the tees have been very expensive to produce, and the cost has been prohibitive for many of the smaller teams.
Following are examples of the prior art which disclose many of the tees having the above-noted limitations. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,383,686, 4,277,691, 4,516,771, 2,862,712, 4,508,340, 3,877,695, 2,616,692 and 3,489,411.
The following patents disclose practice hitting devices wherein the ball is attached to a string and can be hit again when the string stops swinging or is retrieved: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,050,694, 3,885,790, 3,716,235, 3,623,725. U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,320 discloses a device wherein the ball is attached to an arm which rotates 90 degrees, but is unable to be adjusted to various types of pitches.
It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide a new practice hitting device for baseball and softball which corrects many of the above-described limitations. It is a further object to provide a practice hitting device which avoids the necessity of retrieving the ball after being hit. It is a further object to provide an adjustable practice hitting device which is adjustable and can be set for any hitting zone that a batter would experience in a normal game. It is a further object to provide a hitting device that can be easily and quickly adjusted to a new hitting position. It is a further object to provide a new adjustable hitting device which can be produced at low cost and can be made available to all softball and baseball teams. These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description thereof.